Liquid source formation of thin films using hexamethyl-disilazane

ABSTRACT

A precursor liquid comprising several metal 2-ethylhexanoates, such as strontium, tantalum and bismuth 2-ethylhexanoates, in a xylenes/methyl ethyl ketone solvent is prepared, a substrate is placed within a vacuum deposition chamber, a small amount of hexamethyl-disilazane is added to the precursor liquid is misted, and the mist is flowed into the deposition chamber while maintaining the chamber at ambient temperature to deposit a layer of the precursor liquid on the substrate. The liquid is dried, baked, and annealed to form a thin film of a layered superlattice material, such as strontium bismuth tantalate, on the substrate. Then an integrated circuit is completed to include at least a portion of the layered superlattice material film in a component of the integrated circuit.

This application is a division of application Ser. No. 08/714,774, filed16 Sep. 1996, now allowed.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a method of formation of thin films usingliquid sources, and more particularly to the fabrication of thin filmsof metal-oxides of suitable thinness and quality of use in integratedcircuits.

2. Statement of the Problem

It is known that liquid deposition processes, such as the process ofmisted deposition of a liquid precursor as described in U.S. Pat. No.5,456,945 issued Oct. 10, 1995 and the spin-on process described in U.S.Pat. No. 5,423,285 issued Jun. 13, 1995, are useful in makingintegrated-circuit-quality thin films. It is also known that the misteddeposition process has important advantages for the routine manufactureof integrated circuits. While the misted deposition process could beused to make good, integrated-circuit-quality, thin films of bariumstrontium titanate and other relatively simple metal oxides, when theprocess was used with more complex materials, such as the layeredsuperlattice materials, high-quality films could be made only if theshapes of the thin film layers involved only flat structures, such asflat, uniform dielectric layers in capacitors. When the thin filmstructures involved sharp corners, such as in steps, the layeredsuperlattice materials tended to fill the corners and not follow thecontour of the underlying layers. In the integrated circuit art, this isexpressed as not having good step coverage when used for layeredsuperlattice materials. If the viscosity of the liquid source wasadjusted to give better step coverage, then the quality of the filmdeclined significantly, resulting in shorted layers and relatively poorelectronic properties. However, state-of-the-art integrated circuitsinvolve quite complex structures involving steps and other sharpcorners. Thus, up to now, the use of the misted deposition process forlayered superlattice materials has been limited. Since the layeredsuperlattice materials have such extraordinary properties in integratedcircuits, it would be highly desirable to have a misted depositionprocess that would allow the materials to be used in integrated circuitshaving complex structures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention solves the above problems by providinghexamethyl-disilazane (HMDS) as a solvent in the liquid precursor usedto deposit metal compounds. It has been found that the HMDS makes asubstantial improvement in the step coverage resulting from the misteddeposition of the layered superlattice materials. It has also been foundto improve the step coverage of other metal oxides deposited in both themisted deposition process and the spin-on process, though theimprovements are not as dramatic as those for the layered superlatticematerials in the misted deposition process.

The invention provides a method of fabricating an integrated circuitincluding a thin film of a metal compound, the method comprising thesteps of: providing an integrated circuit substrate; providing a liquidprecursor including: at least one metal in effective amounts for forminga desired compound including the metal; and hexamethyl-disilazane;applying the liquid precursor to the substrate; treating the liquidlayer deposited on the substrate to form a solid film of the desiredmetal compound; and completing the fabrication of the integrated circuitto include at least a portion of the metal compound in the electricalcomponent of the integrated circuit. Preferably, the metal compoundcomprises a layered superlattice material. Preferably, the layeredsuperlattice material comprises a material selected from the groupconsisting of strontium bismuth tantalate, strontium bismuth niobate,and strontium bismuth tantalum niobate. Preferably, the step of applyingcomprises: placing the substrate inside an enclosed deposition chamber;producing a mist of the liquid precursor; and flowing the mist throughthe deposition chamber to form a layer of the precursor liquid on thesubstrate. Preferably, the step of flowing is performed whilemaintaining the deposition chamber at ambient temperature. Preferably,the step of providing a precursor includes the step of adding aninitiator having a boiling point between 50° C. and 100° C. to theprecursor prior to the step of producing a mist. Preferably, theinitiator comprises a solvent selected from the group consisting ofmethyl ethyl ketone, isopropanal, methanol, and tetrahydrofuran.Alternatively, the step of applying comprises using a spin-on process toapply the precursor to the substrate. Preferably, the liquid precursorcomprises a solvent and a metal compound selected from the groupconsisting of metal alkoxides and metal carboxylates. Preferably, thestep of treating includes one or more steps from the group of drying,baking and annealing the layer deposited on the substrate. Preferably,the liquid precursor includes a compound of the metal in a solvent, thesolvent selected from the group consisting of xylene, n-butyl acetate,and 2-methoxyethanol. Preferably, the metal includes a metal selectedfrom the group consisting of strontium, calcium, barium, bismuth,cadmium, lead, titanium, tantalum, hafnium, tungsten, niobium,zirconium, scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, antimony, chromium, andthallium.

In another aspect the invention provides a liquid precursor for forminga metal oxide, the precursor comprising: a plurality of metal moietiesin effective amounts for forming a layered superlattice material uponapplication the precursor to a substrate and heating; and a solventcomprising hexamethyl-disilazane. Preferably, the solvent furtherincludes a liquid selected from the group consisting of methyl ethylketone, isopropanal, methanol, tetrahydrofuran, xylene, n-butyl acetate,octane and 2-methoxyethanol.

In a further aspect, the invention provides a method of fabricating athin film of a layered superlattice material, the method comprising thesteps of: providing a liquid precursor including: a plurality of metalmoieties in effective amounts for forming a layered superlatticematerial; and hexamethyl-disilazane; placing a substrate inside anenclosed deposition chamber; producing a mist of the liquid precursor;flowing the mist through the deposition chamber to form a layer of theprecursor liquid on the substrate; and treating the liquid layerdeposited on the substrate to form a solid film of the layeredsuperlattice material. Preferably, the step of flowing is performedwhile maintaining the deposition chamber at ambient temperature.Preferably, layered superlattice material forms part of an electricalcomponent in an integrated circuit, the method further including thestep completing the fabrication of the integrated circuit to include atleast a portion of the film of the layered superlattice material in theelectrical component of the integrated circuit. Preferably, the layeredsuperlattice material comprises a material selected from the groupconsisting of strontium bismuth tantalate, strontium bismuth niobate,and strontium bismuth tantalum niobate. Preferably, the metals include ametal selected from the group consisting of strontium, calcium, barium,bismuth, cadmium, lead, titanium, tantalum, hafnium, tungsten, niobium,zirconium, scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, antimony, chromium, andthallium.

The addition of hexamethyl-disilazane to the layered superlatticematerial precursor for the first time permits the fabrication ofintegrated circuits having layered superlattice material portions madein a misted deposition process that provides both excellent stepcoverage and excellent electronic properties. In contrast to the priorart, there is almost no variation in thickness of the layeredsuperlattice material as it passes over the step. This substantialimprovement in the results for the layered superlattice materials hasled to the investigation of the use of HMDS for other materials and inother liquid deposition processes. In each case there has been someimprovement of results. Numerous other features, objects and advantagesof the invention will become apparent from the following descriptionwhen read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. I is a cutaway side view of the deposition chamber of the misteddeposition apparatus used in the preferred embodiment of the inventionand FIG. 1A is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of an intake and exhaust nozzle assemblyof the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic top view of a manifold system used inthe apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the preparation of a layered superlatticematerial thin film according to the preferred embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 5 is a drawing of an electron micrograph of an integrated circuitdevice fabricated with the process of the invention showing the stepcoverage of a thin film of strontium bismuth tantalate applied to asubstrate;

FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of a portion of an integratedcircuit capacitor fabricated utilizing the method of the invention;

FIG. 7 shows an cross-sectional view of a DRAM memory cell made with alayered superlattice material;

FIG. 8 is a graph of the measured polarization as a function of electricfield for a strontium bismuth tantalate capacitor made according to theprocess of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a graph of the measured remnant polarization versus number ofswitching cycles, i.e. a fatigue curve, for the strontium bismuthtantalate capacitor of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 is a graph of the leakage current versus applied voltage for thestrontium bismuth tantalate capacitor of FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

1. Overview

According to a primary aspect of the present invention, a precursorliquid of a layered superlattice material, such as strontium bismuthtantalate, are initially prepared, a mist of the solution is generated,flowed into a deposition chamber, and deposited in a thin film layer orlayers on a substrate disposed within the deposition chamber. As isconventional in the art, in this disclosure, the term "substrate" isused in a general sense where it includes one or number of layers 5(FIG. 6) of material on which the layered superlattice material may bedeposited, and also in a particular sense in which It refers to asilicon wafer 622 on which the other layers are formed. Unless otherwiseindicated it means any object on which a layer of a layered superlatticematerial is deposited using the process and apparatus of the invention.Precursor liquids include sol-gel precursor formulations, which ingeneral are comprised of metal-alkoxides in an alcohol solvent, andmetallorganic precursor formulations, sometimes referred to as MODformulations, which in general comprise a metal-carboxylate formed byreacting a carboxylic acid, such as n-decanoic acid or 2-ethylhexanoicacid, with a metal or metal compound in a solvent, combinations thereof,as well as other precursor formulations. Whatever the precursor, theinvention includes the use of hexmethyl-disilazane as a precursorsolvent or co-solvent.

The term "mist" as used herein is defined as fine drops of a liquidcarried by a gas. The term "mist" includes an aerosol, which isgenerally defined as a colloidal suspension of solid or liquid particlesin a gas. The term mist also includes a vapor, a fog, as well as othernebulized suspensions of the precursor solution in a gas. Since theabove terms have arisen from popular usage, the definitions are notprecise, overlap, and may be used differently by different authors.Herein, the term aerosol is intended to include all the suspensionsincluded in the text Aerosol Science and Technology, by Parker C. Reist,McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, 1983, which is hereby incorporated byreference. The term "mist" as used herein is intended to be broader thanthe term aerosol, and includes suspensions that may not be includedunder the term aerosol, vapor, or fog.

As discussed in the patents referenced above, the use of precursorliquids results in high quality of thin films because the precursorliquid can be accurately and consistently produced such that the desiredchemical compound after deposition, is uniformly, stoichiometricallycorrect and because the deposition methods of the present invention donot involve violent chemical or physical reactions which eithersignificantly destabilize the chemical compound of its predeterminedmolecular formulation or cause non-uniform deposition of the compound,cracking, etc. The misted deposition process also lends itself to largescale manufacturing of integrated circuits because it can consistentlybe reproduced and/or repeated for large numbers of wafers, and can bescaled to the size necessary for manufacturing of large numbers ofwafers. As will be discussed in detail below, the use ofhexamethyl-disilazane as a solvent or co-solvent results in excellentstep coverage and excellent electronic properties for complex materials,such as the layered superlattice materials.

Layered superlattice materials are described in detail in U.S. Pat. No.5,423,285 issued Jun. 13, 1995 and No. 5,519,234 issued May 21, 1996. Ingeneral, a layered superlattice material is defined as a material thatcan be described by a single chemical formula and which spontaneouslyforms itself into alternating layers having distinctly differentcrystalline structure. For example, strontium bismuth tantalate (SrBi₂Ta₂ O₉) can be considered to be formed of alternating layers of acrystal structure similar to Bi₂ O₃ and a crystal structure similar toSrTa₂ O₆ although it must be kept in mind that SrTa₂ O₆ has a tungstenbronze structure by itself, but within the layered material it has aPerovskite structure; Thus the layered structure is in reality asuperlattice in which the structures of the individual sublattices ofthe Perovskite layers and the non-Perovskite layers are interdependent.These layered materials are natural superlattices, as compared to othersuperlattices, such as compositional superlattices, which aremanufactured or forced superlattices. Thus, the term "layeredsuperlattice material" is selected to distinguish these superlatticematerials from alloy type superlattice materials, which are not layered,and superlattice heterostructures, i.e. the compositional superlattices,which are inherently not a "material" but rather layered structures madeof at least two different materials having different chemical formulae.

The layered superlattice materials made by the process of the inventionare polycrystalline. In the polycrystalline state, the structure of thematerials includes grain boundaries, point defects, dislocation loopsand other microstructure defects. However, within each grain, thestructure is predominately repeatable units containing one or moreferroelectric layers and one or more intermediate non-ferroelectriclayers spontaneously linked in an interdependent manner. Thus thelayered superlattice materials of the invention which are ferroelectriccan be defined as: (A) a material having a localized structure, within agrain or other larger or smaller unit, which localized structurecontains predominately repeatable units containing one or moreferroelectric layers and one or more intermediate non-ferroelectriclayers spontaneously linked in an interdependent manner. The inventionalso includes materials that are not ferroelectric, and those thatinclude Perovskite-like layers can be included in the followingdefinition: (B) a material having a localized structure, within a grainor other larger or smaller unit, which localized structure containspredominately repeatable units containing one or more Perovskite-likelayers and one or more intermediate non-Perovskite-like layersspontaneously linked in an interdependent manner.

The layered superlattice materials include layered Perovskite-likematerials catalogued by Smolenskii et al. in Ferroelectrics and RelatedMaterials, ISSN 0275-9608, (V.3 of the series Ferroelectrics and RelatedPhenomena, 1984) edited by G. A. Smolenskii, Sections 15.3-15.7 andinclude:

(I) compounds having the formula A_(m-1) Bi₂ M_(m) O_(3m+3), whereA=Bi³⁺, Ba²⁺, Sr²⁺, Ca²⁺, Pb²⁺ ; K⁺, Na⁺ and other ions of comparablesize, and M =Ti⁴⁺, Nb⁵⁺, Ta⁵⁺, Mo⁶⁺, W⁶⁺, Fe³⁺ and other ions thatoccupy oxygen octahedral; this group includes bismuth titanate, Bi₄ Ti₃O₁₂ ;

(II) compounds having the formula A_(m+1) M^(m) O_(3m+1), includingcompounds such as strontium titanates Sr₂ TiO₄, Sr₃ Ti₂ O₇ and Sr₄ Ti₃O₁₀ ; and

(III) compounds having the formula A_(m) M_(m) O_(3m+2), includingcompounds such as Sr₂ Nb₂ O₇, La₂ Ti₂ O₇, Sr₅ TiNb₄ O₁₇, and Sr₆ Ti₂ Nb₄O₂₀. It is noted that in the case of Sr₂ Nb₂ O₇ and La₂ Ti₂ O₇ theformula needs to be doubled to make them agree with the general formula.Layered superlattice materials include all of the above materials pluscombinations and solid solutions of these materials.

Layered superlattice materials may be summarized more generally underthe formula:

(1) A1_(w1) ^(+a1) A2_(w2) ^(+a2). . . Aj_(wj) ^(+aj) S1.sub.×1^(+s1)S2.sub.×2 ^(+s2). . . Sk_(+k) ^(+sk) B1_(y1) ^(+b1) B2_(y2) ^(+b2). . .B1_(y1) ^(+b1) Q_(z) ⁻², where A1, A2 . . . Aj represent A-site elementsin the Perovskite-like structure, which may be elements such asstrontium, calcium, barium, bismuth, cadmium, lead, and others S1, S2 .. . Sk represent superlattice generator elements, which usually isbismuth, but can also be materials such as yttrium, scandium, lanthanum,antimony, chromium, thallium, and other elements with a valence of +3,B1, B2 . . . B1 represent B-site elements in the Perovskite-likestructure, which may be elements such as titanium, tantalum, hafnium,tungsten, niobium, zirconium, and other elements, and Q represents ananion, which generally is oxygen but may also be other elements, such asfluorine, chlorine and hybrids of these elements, such as theoxyfluorides, the oxychlorides, etc. The superscripts in formula (1)indicate the valences of the respective elements, and the subscriptsindicate the number of moles of the material in a mole of the compound,or in terms of the unit cell, the number of atoms of the element, on theaverage, in the unit cell. The subscripts can be integer or fractional.That is, formula (1) includes the cases where the unit cell may varythroughout the material, e.g. in Sr ₀.75 Ba ₀.25 Bi₂ Ta₂ O₉, on theaverage, 75% of the time Sr is the A-site atom and 25% of the time Ba isthe A-site atom. If there is only one A-site element in the compoundthen it is represented by the "A1" element and w2. . . wj all equalzero. If there is only one B-site element in the compound, then it isrepresented by the "B1" element, and y2. . . yl all equal zero, andsimilarly for the superlattice generator elements. The usual case isthat there is one A-site element, one superlattice generator element,and one or two B-site elements, although formula (1) is written in themore general form since the invention is intended to include the caseswhere either of the sites and the superlattice generator can havemultiple elements. The value of z is found from the equation:

(2) (a1w1+a2W2 . . . +ajwj)+(s1×1+s2×2 . . . +sk×k)+(b1 y1 +b2y2 . . .+bjyj)=2z. Formula (1) includes all three of the Smolenskii typecompounds: for the type I material, w1=m -1, ×1=2, y1=m, z=3m+3 and theother subscripts equal zero; for the type II material, w1=m+1, y1 =m,z=3m+1, and the other subscripts equal zero; for the type III material,w1=m, y1=m, z=3m+2, and the other subscripts equal zero. It is notedthat the Smolenskii type I formula does not work for M=Ti and m=2, whilethe formula (1) does work. This is because the Smolenskii formula doesnot consider valences. The materials according to the invention do notinclude all materials that can be fit into formula (1), but rather onlythose materials that spontaneously form layered superlattices. Insummary, the materials of the invention include all the materials asdescribed by the definitions (A) and (B) above, the Smolenskii formulas,and the formula (1), plus solid solutions of all the foregoingmaterials. Terms of art that have been applied to these structuresinclude layered perovskite-like materials, recurrent intergrowth layers,Aurivilius materials, and self-orienting spontaneous intergrowth layers.Even so, no one single term suffices to describe the entire class oflayered superlattice materials. Applicants have chosen the term "layeredsuperlattice materials" to describe the entire class of materialsbecause the lattices include a short range order, e.g., a sublayerformed of a perovskite-like oxygen octahedra lattice, and a long rangeorder including a periodic repetition of sublayers, e.g., aperovskite-like sublayer and a superlattice generator metal oxide layerrepeated in succession. Further, as in other superlattice materials, thelength of the periodicity can be manipulated. For example, as is knownin the art of these materials, by adjusting the stoichiometry, the valueof "m" in the Smolenskii formulas I, II, and IlI above can be varied tovary the thickness of the perovskite-like layers. See, Ferroelectricsand Related Materials, ISSN 0275-9608, (V.3 of the series Ferroelectricsand Related Phenomena, 1984) edited by G. A. Smolenskii, p. 694. Thedual order of these periodically repeating structures and the ability tomanipulate the periodic distances meets the definition of asuperlattice. As indicated above, the term "layered superlatticematerial" should not be confused with forced heterolattice structuresthat are made by sputter deposition of successive layers. Layeredsuperlattice materials spontaneously form collated intergrowth layers inan anneal, and do not require the forced deposition of successivelayers.

According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the mistof a precursor liquid is evenly flowed across and onto a substrate atsubstantially ambient temperature. That is, unlike the prior art, thesubstrate is not heated. In this disclosure the term "ambient" means atthe temperature of the surroundings, which preferably is roomtemperature, which is generally between 15° C. and 40° C. However,because various processes may be occurring during the deposition, suchas drawing a vacuum, electrical poling, and/or the application ofultraviolet radiation, the actual temperature within deposition chamber2 may vary from the temperature of the room in which the depositiontakes place. Thus the use of the words "substantially ambienttemperature". Substantially ambient temperature means generally withinthe range of -50° C. and 100° C. As will discussed further below, a keyaspect of the flow process is that the mist is flowed across thesubstrate via multiple input ports and exits the area above thesubstrate via multiple exhaust ports, with the ports being distributedin close proximity to and about the periphery of the substrate to createa substantially evenly distributed flow of mist across the substrate.

Another feature of the deposition process is that it is a relatively lowenergy process as compared to prior art deposition processes. It isbelieved that the deposition is caused by relatively low energy kineticinteractions between the liquid particles and also relatively low energykinetic interactions between the particles and the barrier plateopposite the substrate. It has been found that heating the depositionchamber or substrate during deposition leads to inferior quality thinfilms. During, after, or both during and after deposition, the precursorliquid is treated to form a thin film of solid layered superlatticematerial on the substrate. In this context, "treated" means any one or acombination of the following: exposed to vacuum, ultraviolet radiation,electrical poling, drying, heating, and annealing. In the preferredembodiment UV radiation and electrical poling are optionally applied tothe precursor solution during deposition. The ultraviolet radiation ispreferably also applied after deposition. After deposition, the materialdeposited on the substrate, which is liquid in the preferred embodiment,is preferably exposed to vacuum for a period, then is heated, and thenannealed. The preferred process of the invention is one in which themisted precursor solution is deposited directly on the substrate and thedissociation of the organics in the precursor that do not form part ofthe desired material and removal of the solvent and organics or otherfragments takes place primarily after the solution is on the substrate.However, in another aspect the invention also contemplates a process inwhich the final desired chemical compound or an intermediate compound isseparated from the solvent and organics during the deposition and thefinal desired chemical compound or an intermediate compound is depositedon the substrate. In both aspects, preferably, one or more bonds of theprecursor pass through to the final film.

An important parameter of many complex thin films used in integratedcircuits, such as ferroelectric films, is that they are generallyrequired to be quite thin, for example, within a range of 200angstroms-5000 angstroms. Such film thicknesses can be readily achievedby the process and apparatus according to the invention. The inventioncan also be used to generate much thicker films, if desired.

FIG. 5 is a drawing of an electron micrograph of an actual devicefabricated according to the process of the invention utilizing theapparatus of the invention. This drawing illustrates the step coverageof a thin film 506 of strontium bismuth tantalate applied to a substrate5. Because of the relative thinness of the strontium bismuth tantalatelayer 506, it is not possible to show all the details of the substrate 5in a photomicrograph. Thus, a schematic diagram intended to represent across-section of an integrated circuit, is shown in FIG. 6. So that allthe layers can be shown in one drawing, the relative thicknesses of thevarious layers are not drawn to the same scale in FIG. 6. As shown inFIG. 6, the substrate 5 includes a silicon wafer 622, a layer 624 ofSiO₂ about 5000 Å (Angstroms) thick, a layer 626 of titanium about 200 Åthick, and a layer 628 of platinum about 2000 Å thick. In the actualcapacitor, after the layer 506 of the layered superlattice material isdeposited, another approximately 2000 Å thick layer 632 of platinum isdeposited, then the capacitor is patterned to complete the device.

As shown in FIG. 5, a step 508 is formed in substrate 5 over which thelayer 506 of strontium bismuth tantalate was deposited using the methodof the present invention. Note that the deposition of the appliedlayered superlattice material 506 is extremely conformal over the top512 and bottom 514 of step 508. There is a small amount of filling in ofthe hard angle near the bottom 514 of the step 508, but this filling inis substantially less than for layered superlattice materials depositedwithout hexamethyl-disilazane as a solvent, and compares well to theconformation possible in state-of-the-art integrated circuit depositiontechniques commonly used in the fabrication of integrated circuits.Thus, the addition of hexamethyl-disilazane as a solvent solves theproblem of it not being possible to obtain the excellent electronicproperties of layered superlattice materials in combination with thecomplex structures of state-of-the art integrated circuits.

A dynamic random access memory (DRAM) cell 770 utilizing the layeredsuperlattice material is shown in FIG. 7. As is well-known, a DRAMmemory is made up of hundreds of thousands or millions of such cells.Portions of the circuit wafer 850, particularly the layer 860, may beformed utilizing the apparatus and process of the invention. When thelayer 860 is a ferroelectric layered superlattice material, such asstrontium bismuth tantalate, the cell is a non-volatile ferroelectric(FERAM) switching memory cell, and when the layer 860 is a dielectriclayered superlattice material, such as lead bismuth niobate, the cell870 is a volatile DRAM memory cell. The wafer 850 includes a siliconsubstrate 851, field oxide areas 854, and two electricallyinterconnected electrical devices, a transistor 871 and a capacitor 872.Transistor 871 includes a gate 873, a source 874, and a drain 875.Capacitor 872 includes first electrode 858, layered superlatticematerial 860, and second electrode 877. Insulators, such as 856,separate the devices 871, 872, except where drain 875 of transistor 871is connected to first electrode 858 of capacitor 872. Electricalcontacts, such as 847 and 878 make electrical connection to the devices871, 872 to other parts of the integrated circuit 850. A detailedexample of the complete fabrication process for an integrated circuitmemory cell as shown in FIG. 7 is given in U.S. Pat. No. 5,466,629issued Nov. 14, 1995. The detailed preferred process for fabricating thelayer 860 is given below. The process of the invention discussed hereinmay also be utilized in forming other layers of wafer 850, such asinsulating layers 856.

A thin film deposition apparatus 1 according to one exemplary embodimentof the invention is shown in FIG. 1 and 1A. Apparatus 1 comprises adeposition chamber 2 containing a substrate holder 4, a barrier plate 6,an input nozzle assembly 8, an exhaust nozzle assembly 10, and anultraviolet radiation source 16. The deposition chamber 2 includes amain body. 12, a lid 14 which is securable over the main body 12 todefine an enclosed space within the deposition chamber 2. The chamber isconnected to a plurality of external vacuum sources which will not bedescribed in detail herein. Lid 14 is pivotally connected to the mainbody 12 using a hinge as indicated at 15. In operation, a mist and inertcarrier gas are fed from manifold assembly 40 (FIG. 3) via tube 45, indirection 43, and pass to input nozzle assembly 8, where the mist isdeposited onto substrate 5. Excess mist and carrier gas are drawn out ofdeposition chamber 2 via exhaust nozzle 10.

Substrate holder 4 is made from two circular plates 3, 3' ofelectrically conductive material, such as stainless steel, the top plate3 being insulated from the bottom plate (field plate) 3' by anelectrically insulative material, such as delrin. In an exemplaryembodiment, utilizing a 4 inch diameter substrate, substrate holder 4 isnominally 6 inches in diameter and supported on a rotatable shaft 20which is in turn connected to a motor 18 so that holder 4 and substrate5 may be rotated during a deposition process. An insulating shaft 22electrically insulates the substrate holder 4 and substrate 5 supportedthereon from the DC voltage applied to the deposition chamber main body12 so that a DC bias can be created between the substrate holder 4 andbarrier plate 6 (via chamber main body 12). Such a DC bias may beutilized, for example, for field-poling of thin films as they are beingdeposited on the substrate 5. Insulating shaft 22 is connected to shaft20 and shaft 20' by couplings 21. Electrical source 102 is operativelyconnected to main body 12 of deposition chamber 2 at connection 108 bylead 106 and via feedthrough 23 to brass sleeve 25 by lead 104 to effecta DC bias between field plate 3' and barrier plate 6.

Barrier plate 6 is made of an electrically conductive material such asstainless steel, and is of sufficiently large size to extendsubstantially over the substrate 5 in parallel thereto so that avaporized source or mist as injected through input tube 26 and nozzleassembly 8 is forced to flow between barrier plate 6 and the substrateholder 4 over the substrate 5. Barrier plate 6 is preferably the samediameter as the substrate holder 4. The barrier plate 6 is preferablyconnected to the lid 14 by a plurality of rods 24 so that the plate 6will be moved away from the substrate 5 whenever the lid is opened. Thebarrier plate 6 also includes a UV transmitting window (not shown inFIG. 1).

The input nozzle assembly 8 and the exhaust nozzle assembly 10 are moreparticularly shown with reference to FIG. 2. Input nozzle assembly 8includes an input tube 26 which receives a misted solution from manifoldassembly 40 as discussed below in relation to FIG. 3. Input tube 26 isconnected to arcuate tube 28 which has a plurality of small holes orinput ports 31 for accepting removable screws 30 spaced 1/4 inchcenter-to-center along the inner circumference of the tube 28.

Exhaust nozzle assembly 10 comprises an arcuate exhaust tube 29 having aplurality of small holes or exhaust ports 31' with removable screws 30.The structure of the exhaust nozzle assembly 10 is substantially thesame as that of the input nozzle assembly 8, except that a tube 34 leadsto a vacuum/exhaust source (not shown). End caps 32 of tubes 28 and 29are removable for cleaning. Arcuate tube 28 of input nozzle assembly 8and the corresponding arcuate tube 29 of exhaust nozzle assembly 10respectively surround oppositely disposed peripheral portions 4-1, 4-2of substrate holder 4.

In an exemplary embodiment wherein a layered superlattice material filmis to be deposited, the centers of holes 31, 31+ in tubes 28 and 29 arenominally located 0.375 inches above substrate holder 4. However,referring to FIG. 1, this distance is adjustable using different lengthsof shaft 20' to suit the specific deposition process.

Each of the tubes 28, 29, is typically fabricated from 1/4" O.D.stainless steel, with an inner diameter of approximately 3/16". Theinterior walls of each tube 28,29 are preferably electro-polished. Holes31, 31' in tubes 28 and 29 respectively are spaced approximately 1/4"center-to-center, and are tapped to accommodate 4-40 (1/8") socket headset screws.

Through such structure, and by adjusting the location of open holes 31,31' by selectively inserting or removing screws 30 in the two arcuatetubes 28 and 29, the flow of a vaporized solution or mist over thesubstrate 5 can be well controlled for various solutions and flow rates,etc., to achieve a uniform deposition of a thin film on substrate 5.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, substrate holder 4, barrier plate 6, inputnozzle assembly 8 and exhaust nozzle assembly 10 collectively cooperateto define a relatively small, semi-enclosed deposition area 17surrounding an upper/exposed surface of the substrate 5, and withinwhich the vaporized solution is substantially contained throughout thedeposition process.

Although exemplary embodiments of substrate holder 4, barrier plate 6,input nozzle assembly 8 and exhaust nozzle assembly 10 are shown anddescribed, it is understood that variations of such structures can beutilized within the scope of the present invention. For example, thearcuate input and exhaust tubes 28 and 29 could be replaced with tubesof other structures such as V-shaped or U-shaped tubes, or slottedtubes, or could simply be replaced by a plurality of separate nozzlesand separate exhaust ports.

FIG. 3 shows a manifold assembly 40 according to the present invention.The manifold assembly 40 is utilized for supplying a mist to inputnozzle assembly 8, and generally comprises a mixing chamber 42, aplurality of inlets 44 which are connected to corresponding mistgenerators 46-1, 46-2, through 46-n through respective valves 49-1,49-2, through 49-n, a deposit valve 47 for regulating flow from themixing chamber 42 to the nozzle assembly 8, and an exhaust vent valve48. In use, one or more of the mist generators 46-* are utilized togenerate one or more different mists which are then flowed into themixing chamber 42 through valves 49-* and inlets 44.

The mists as flowed into the mixing chamber 42 are mixed to form asingle, uniform misted solution which is then flowed into the depositionchamber 2 at an appropriate flow rate through the valve 47 and inputtube 26. The general direction of flow in the mixing chamber 42 and tube45 which connects manifold assembly 40 to input nozzle assembly 8(FIG. 1) is shown by the arrow 43. Valve 47 can be selectively closedoff so that the deposition chamber 2 can be pumped down if desired, orto clean and purge the manifold system when necessary. Similarly, theoutlet 51 of the exhaust valve 48 is connected to a vacuum source (notshown) so that, when necessary to exhaust/purge one or more of the mistgenerators 46, valve 47 can be closed off, valve 48 and one or more ofthe valves 49-* can be opened, and the mixing chamber 42 can be pumpeddown to clean and purge the mist generator(s) 46-* and the mixingchamber 42 by applying a vacuum via outlet 51, or using standardnegative draw type exhaust.

Apparatus 1 shown in FIGS. 1, 7, and 9 includes electrical means 102 forapplying a DC bias in the deposition chamber 2 during a depositionoperation. FIG. 1 shows the DC input 104. The DC potential appliedbetween input sleeve 25 and deposition chamber main body 12 is typically350 volts. The DC bias achieves poling in-situ of the ferroelectric filmadding to the film quality. Dipole ordering along the crystal c-axis(the major polarization axis) is often desirable, and the resultingordering reduces dislocation density which can be responsible forfatigue and retention problems. A DC bias of either greater than or lessthan 350 volts could also be used to effectuate the above results. Inaddition, while deposition is occurring, combinations of ultravioletradiation and DC bias may be applied within chamber 2 either together orsequentially, and repeated.

The above details or the apparatus 1 are sufficient to understand theprocess of the invention. Further details may be found in U.S. Pat. No.5,456,945 issued Oct. 10, 1995.

2. Detailed Description of the Process

Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown an exemplary flow chart depictingthe fabrication of a layered superlattice material thin film accordingto the invention. In steps P1 through P6 the liquid precursor is made.The process shown in the preferred process for fabricating a layeredsuperlattice material in which there are three metallic elements. In thepreferred embodiment, in each of steps P1 through P3 an initialprecursor is made by reacting a metal or metal compound with acarboxylic acid to form a metal carboxylate, which is dissolved in asolvent. That is, in this embodiment, the metal moiety is a metalcarboxylate. The preferred carboxylic acid for the reaction is onehaving a medium-length ligand, such as b 2-ethylhexanoic acid, althoughothers may be used. Preferably the solvent's boiling point should bewithin the range 110° C.-170° C. The preferred solvents are alcohols,such as 2-methoxyethanol, aromatic hydrocarbons, such as the xylenes andoctane, and esters, such as n-butyl acetate, though any of the solventsin Table A may be used.

                  TABLE A                                                         ______________________________________                                        Solvent            Boiling Point                                              ______________________________________                                        xylenes            (bp = 138° C.-143° C.)                       n-Butyl acetate    (bp = 126.5° C.)                                    octane                                                                        N,N-dimethylformamide                                                                            (bp = 153° C.)                                      2-Methoxyethyl acetate                                                                           (bp = 145° C.)                                      Methyl isobutyl ketone                                                                           (bp = 116° C.)                                      Methyl isoamyl ketone                                                                            (bp = 144° C.)                                      Isoamyl alcohol    (bp = 132° C.)                                      Cyclohexanone      (bp = 156° C.)                                      2-Ethoxyethanol    (bp = 135° C.)                                      2-Methoxyethyl ether                                                                             (bp = 162° C.)                                      Methyl butyl ketone                                                                              (bp = 127° C.)                                      Hexyl alcohol      (bp = 157° C.)                                      2-Pentanol         (bp = 119° C.)                                      Ethyl butyrate     (bp = 121° C.)                                      Nitroethane        (bp = 114° C.)                                      Pyrimidine         (bp = 123° C.)                                      1,3,5 Trioxane     (bp = 115° C.)                                      Isobutyl isobutyrate                                                                             (bp = 147° C.)                                      Isobutyl propionate                                                                              (bp = 137° C.)                                      Propyl propionate  (bp = 122° C.)                                      Ethyl Lactate      (bp = 154° C.)                                      n-Butanol          (bp = 117° C.)                                      n-Pentanol         (bp = 138° C.)                                      3-Pentanol         (bp = 116° C.)                                      ______________________________________                                    

The amounts of the metals used are usually proportioned so that anequivalent weight of each metal equal to the molecular weight of themetal in the stoichiometric formula for the desired layered superlatticematerial. An exception is lead. Generally an excess of lead of between1% and 100%, preferably between 3% and 10%, of the equivalentstoichiometric amount is included because lead oxide has a higher vaporpressure than the other metals and a significant amount of leadevaporates as lead oxide during baking and annealing. Similarly, excessamounts of other materials, such as bismuth, thallium, and antimony,that evaporate or otherwise are lost in the process may be used. Forbismuth excellent results have been obtained with from about 2% to 70%excess bismuth, with the best results being in the range of 10% to 40%excess, although this factor is strongly dependent on the details of theheating steps P11 and P12.

If it is desired to add dopants to the material, then initialprecursor(s) of the dopant element(s) may be made in step P5 in asimilar manner to the precursors made in steps P1-P3. Alternatively, thedopant(s) may be added in the mixing step P6.

The steps P1, P2, P3, and P4 are preferably performed by mixing themetal or other metal compound, such as a metal alkoxide, with thecarboxylic acid and the solvent and stirring. Low heat of between about70° C. and 90° C. may be added to assist the reaction and dissolving,but this is generally not necessary. The solid arrows indicate thatgenerally, the chemist will perform all the steps P1, P2 and P3 in thesame container; that is the first metal or metal compound, the firstmeasure of carboxylic acid, and a first solvent are placed in acontainer, the metal or metal compound and carboxylic acid are reacted,and the reactant dissolved, the second metal or metal compound is thenplaced in the same container and additional carboxylic acid and solventare added and stirred to react the second metal or metal alkoxide anddissolve the reactant, then the third metal or metal compound, thirdcarboxylic acid, and third solvent are added, the metal or metalcompound is reacted, and the reactant dissolved. In this process themost reactive metal or metal compound is preferably added first, thesecond most reactive metal or metal compound added second, and the leastreactive metal or metal compound added last. It also may be desirable toperform the distillation step after each or some of the metal and/ormetal compounds are reacted and dissolved. Alternatively, each metaland/or metal compound may be combined with a carboxylic acid andsolvent, reacted, and dissolved in a separate container, the resultdistilled if desirable, and then the three separate solutions mixed instep P6. Variations and combinations of preparing the individual metalprecursors separately or in the same container with or withoutdistillation(s) may be used depending on the solvents used and the formin which metal element is readily available. In addition it should beunderstood that if the desired superlattice material includes only twometallic elements, then only two metals or metal compounds will bereacted and dissolved, and if the desired superlattice material includesfour or more metallic elements, then four or more metals or metalcompounds will be reacted and dissolved. Further, it is understood thatany of the steps P1, P2, and P3 may be replaced by using a prepreparedmetal carboxylate. In addition, many other processes for preparing theinitial precursor may be used, as for example the variations discussedin U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,679 issued Nov. 21, 1995.

When the solution of reacted and dissolved metal carboxylates has beenprepared, the precursor solution is then mixed and distilled in step P6by heating and stirring the solution to further the reaction of thereagents, reduce the solution to the desired volume and viscosity, whichmay depend on whether the solution is to be stored or used immediately,and/or to remove certain liquids, such as water. Generally, if it isdesirable to remove certain liquids, the solution is heated to atemperature above the boiling point of the liquids to be removed andbelow the boiling point of the liquids that are desired to be retained.The solution is distilled until all the solvents that are desired to beremoved have evaporated and a desired volume and viscosity are reached.It may be necessary to add the desired solvent several times in thedistilling process to remove all undesired solvents and obtain thedesired volume and viscosity. Preferably, as much water as possible isdistilled out so that the resulting initial precursor is essentiallyanhydrous.

Optionally, either separately or in combination with the step P6, asolvent exchange step may be performed. In this step a solvent, such asxylene, is added and the other solvents are distilled away. This solventexchange step may be performed as the final step in preparation of theprecursor prior to storing to change to a solvent that stores well, andor just before the misting step P9 to change to a solvent that depositswell, or both. If It is known that a certain solvent, such as xylene,will be preferable, the solvent may be added with the other solvents insteps P1, P2, P3, P4 and/or P5 and the other solvents distilled away inthe distillation step P6.

Just before forming the mist, in step P8, an initiator may be added tothe precursor. An initiator is a high vapor pressure, low boiling point,solvent that assists in initiating the formation of the mist.Preferably, the metal moieties in the precursor are also soluble in theinitiator, that is, the initiator is a solvent for the metal moieties. Aliquid with a boiling point of between about 50° C. and 100° C. ispreferred as an initiator. Examples of liquids that may be used asinitiators are given in Table B.

                  TABLE B                                                         ______________________________________                                        Initiator           Boiling Point                                             ______________________________________                                        Methyl Ethyl Ketone (2-butanone)                                                                  80° C.                                             Isopropanol         82° C.                                             Methanol              64.7° C.                                         Tetrahydrofuran     67° C.                                             ______________________________________                                    

Examples of the preparation of layered superlattice precursor solutionsare given in U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,285 issued Jun. 13, 1995. Precursorsfor layered superlattice materials made by the processes described aboveare now commercially available from Kujundo Chemical Laboratory Co. Ltd.(KJC), No. 1-28 5 Chome, Chiyoda, Sakado-shi, Saitama pref., Japan.

EXAMPLE 1

In the preferred process, 6.5 milliliters (ml) of KJC-Strontium BismuthTantalate-34611 F solution, including bismuth, strontium and tantalum2-ethylhexanoates in xylenes, was mixed with 5.5 ml of methyl ethylketone (MEK), to which was added 2 ml of hexamethyl-disilazane. Thisfinal precursor solution was placed in mist generator 46-1. Thedeposition chamber 12 was pumped down to 10⁻⁶ Torr. Substrate rotationmotor 18 was turned on to rotate substrate holder 4 at 60 cycles aminute. UV source 16 was then turned on for 30 minutes to desorb themoisture in the deposition chamber as well as any moisture on thesubstrate. The deposition chamber was slowly back filled with an inertnitrogen gas to a pressure of approximately 595 Torr. Next, the processvacuum line was opened to stabilize the deposition chamber pressure atapproximately 595 Torr. In step P9 deposit valves 49-1 and 47 wereopened, argon gas was passed through ultrasonic mist generator 46, andthe mist generator was then turned on to form the mist. In step P10, themist was flowed into the deposition chamber 12 for 9 minutes anddeposited on a substrate 5 comprising a silicon wafer 622 with layers ofsilicon dioxide 624, titanium 626, and platinum 628 deposited on it. TheUV source 16 was left on through this process. The wafer 600 was removedfrom the deposition chamber 12 and placed on a hot plate where it wasdried in step P11 at a temperature of 150° C. for one minute, thenprocessed by rapid thermal anneal (RTA) at 725° C. for 30 seconds inoxygen in step P12. The first layer thickness was 900 Å. Then the wafer600 was returned to the deposition chamber 12, the mist was formed againand steps P9 and P10 another layer was deposited for six minutes. Thewafer was then removed and baked at 260° C. for four minutes, and againRTA processed at 725° C. for 30 seconds in oxygen, and then, in stepP13, annealed in oxygen for one hour. The resulting film 506 wasapproximately 1400 Angstroms (Å) thick.

At the end of each of the two coating processes, the mist generator46-1, UV source 16, and substrate rotation motor 18 were turned off,deposit valve 47 was closed, mist generator 46-1 was turned off, andmanifold 40 was vented until mist generator 46-1 reached ambienttemperature. At the end of the entire deposition process, manifold 42was purged through vent 705 with argon gas.

After the anneal step P13, the IC device 600 was completed in step P14,i.e. second platinum electrode 632 was sputtered on and the wafer wasthen etched using well-known photo-resist techniques to produce aplurality of capacitors 604.

Hysteresis measurements were made on the strontium bismuth tantalatecapacitor fabricated by the above process using an uncompensatedSawyer-Tower circuit at 10,000 Hertz and at voltages of 1 volt, 3 volts,4 volts, 5 volts, 6 volts, 7 volts, 8 volts, 9 volts, and 10 volts. Theresults for room temperature are shown in FIG. 8. The ordinate is thepolarization in microcoulombs per square centimeter while the abscissais the applied electric field in kilovolts per centimeter. Thehysteresis curves indicate the capacitors would perform well in amemory. Almost all the curves except the 1 volt curve fall one on top ofthe other, showing that the electrical properties remain remarkablyconstant over the range of voltages common to integrated circuits. Thepolarizability, 2Pr, is over 19 microcoulombs/cm² for the 5 voltmeasurement and about the same for all voltages from 3 to 10 volts. Thecoercive field, 2Ec, was about 85 volts for the 5 volt measurement, andabout the same for all voltages from 3 to 10 volts.

FIG. 9 shows a graph of the remnant polarizations, +Pr and -Pr, inmicrocoulombs per centimeter squared versus the number of switchingcycles for the sample made by the process described above, also at roomtemperature. The measurements were made at 10,000 and a million hertzwith an amplitude of 5 volts using a triangular wave. Both curves areessentially flat out to 10⁹ cycles. These curves are generally referredto in the art as fatigue curves, since any decrease in these curvesindicates that the ferroelectric properties is declining with increasingnumber of switching cycles, which is referred to as fatigue of theferroelectric material. Prior to the discovery of the extraordinaryproperties of the layered superlattice materials by some of the presentinventors, all known ferroelectric materials fatigued 50% or more overthe range shown in the graph. The graph shows that strontium bismuthtantalate made by the process of the invention retains the sameresistance to fatigue while also having good step coverage.

The measured leakage current at room temperature in amperes per squarecentimeter versus applied voltage in volts for the same sample is shownin FIG. 10. The leakage current stays well below 10⁻⁶ amps per squarecentimeter for all measured voltages.

FIG. 5, discussed above, is a drawing of an electron micrograph of anactual layer of strontium bismuth tantalate deposited on a platinumsubstrate as described in Example 1.

The above results are all excellent, and are comparable to the bestresults obtained for strontium bismuth tantalate for flat capacitors.Thus, the use of hexamethyl-disilazane provides excellent step coveragewhile retaining extraordinary electrical properties.

EXAMPLE 2

As a check on the results, a second set of samples was made using thesame process described above, except that the hexamethyl-disilazane wasomitted. All samples showed blue spots, which upon magnification provedto be thickness variations. The Polarizability, 2Pr, was typically about14 microcoulombs per centimeter squared, although a few showed resultsthe same as those given above, indicative of variations in coverage ofthe substrate by the superlattice material. Photomicrographs confirmedthe poor step coverage. While variations of the precursor and otherportions of the process could be found that produced good electricalresults, no variation, other than the use of hexamethyl-disilazane couldbe found that produced uniform thickness and good step coverage.

EXAMPLE 3

A third set of samples was made using the same process as described inExample 1 except that a strontium bismuth tantalum niobate solution wasused. The step coverage was essentially the same as for the strontiumbismuth tantalum capacitor samples of Example 1. Because of theexcellent appearance, it is expected that the electronic properties willbe likewise excellent, though these have not yet been measured at thistime.

Although there has been described what is at present considered to bethe preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will beunderstood that the invention can be embodied in other specific formswithout departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof.Now that the advantage of using hexamethyl-disilazane in the aboveliquid precursor deposition process has been disclosed, the solvent maybe found useful for other liquid deposition processes. The presentembodiments are, therefore, to be considered as illustrative and notrestrictive. The scope of the invention is indicated by the appendedclaims.

We claim:
 1. A method of fabricating a thin film of a layeredsuperlattice material, said method comprising the steps of:(a) providinga liquid precursor including: a plurality of metal moieties in effectiveamounts for forming a layered superlattice material; andhexamethyl-disilazane; (b) placing a substrate inside an encloseddeposition chamber; (c) producing a mist of said liquid precursor; (d)flowing said mist through said deposition chamber to form a layer of theprecursor liquid on said substrate; and (e) treating the liquid layerdeposited on said substrate to form a solid film of said layeredsuperlattice material.
 2. A method as in claim 1 wherein said step offlowing is performed while maintaining said deposition chamber atambient temperature.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein said layeredsuperlattice material comprises a material selected from the groupconsisting of strontium bismuth tantalate, strontium bismuth niobate,and strontium bismuth tantalum niobate.
 4. The method of claim 1 whereinsaid metals include a metal selected from the group consisting ofstrontium, calcium, barium, bismuth, cadmium, lead, titanium, tantalum,hafnium, tungsten, niobium, zirconium, scandium, yttrium, lanthanum,antimony, chromium, and thallium.